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A Semi Truck is Intimidating. Suing a Trucking Company Is Not.

Commercial trucks can weight eighty thousand pounds. When they are speeding down the highway, you want to get out of the way. If a collision takes place that’s the fault of the truck driver, the trucking company or truck manufacturer, and you are injured, you need not be so intimidated that you won’t stand up for your legal rights.

With the right attorney, if you’re involved in a personal injury action it shouldn’t make a difference whether you were struck by the smallest subcompact or the largest truck. There may be more parties involved and the issues may be more complex if a commercial vehicle is involved, but lawsuits due to vehicle accidents are basically the same.

When you retain an attorney to represent you in a lawsuit to seek compensation for your injuries, it’s your attorney who communicates with the other parties, their attorneys and insurance companies, not you. If they want to try to bully you or throw their financial weight around, they’re free to try, but an experienced personal injury attorney will just see through that for what it is -- desperation. They don’t want the merits of your case to be heard by a jury.

Overly aggressive defense attorneys can take a toll. They can try to delay litigation with endless motions and attempts to try to dismiss your case, or at least narrow down your claims. The discovery process (when both parties exchange information, documents and interview each other’s witnesses under oath) could also drag out, especially if the defense tries to pry into your life above and beyond what it’s entitled to do. But this is why you hire an attorney, and you don’t take on this process yourself.

There may be multiple parties and several vehicles involved. More than one party may be at fault and a contributing cause of the crash.

The truck driver may be an employee or an independent contractor.

The truck may have been negligently repaired and maintained by a third party.

The shipper may be at fault because the load wasn’t properly balanced or tied down correctly, causing it to shift and resulting in a loss of control by the driver.

Each of the parties may have their own insurance carriers and attorneys representing them.

Experts may need to be hired to recreate what happened and why.

The companies involved may be international corporations with operations across the globe. They may employ thousands of people. They may also be covered by insurance companies with billions of dollars in assets.

Though this may sound intimidating, these issues aren’t for you to deal with. If you retain an attorney experienced with the complexities of commercial truck accidents, he or she will help you obtain compensation for your injuries. Your focus should be on recovery, getting your life back together again and, if possible, getting back to work. Dealing with motions, discovery issues and negotiations are handled by your attorney.

If you have any questions or concerns, your attorney should be ready and able to talk to you. When issues arise that require your attention, your attorney should give you all the background you need and provide you with legal counsel so you can make an informed decision about what to do.

If you’ve been injured in a collision with a commercial vehicle, don’t let that injustice lead to another by being too intimidated by the parties or the legal system to seek compensation for your injuries. The reality is that commercial vehicles are involved in accidents all the time, and attorneys and the court system are capable of handling them.

The aftermath of a collision involving a commercial truck can be traumatic, confusing and create a serious setback for you physically, emotionally, professionally and financially. But an attorney experienced in these types of cases can help you navigate your post-collision life, help you get the treatment you need and, ideally, fair and just compensation for the harm done. Don’t let fear of filing a legal action stop you from standing up for your rights -- both for your sake and for the sake of your family.